What 5 Hours a Week Could Do For You

February 10, 2017December 28, 2016

Here’s another one of those Mary Kay “training” items that is really meant to make you feel like you just didn’t work hard enough. Who couldn’t five extra hours a week to do something important like Mary Kay???

Well, I’m sure that if we all tried, we really might be able to find five extra hours to do something that we’re really motivated to do. But the truth is that you can’t really get anywhere in Mary Kay with five hours a week. There is a far bigger time commitment if you want to do anything more than make some pocket change.

So what is the motivation for making you feel like a loser who didn’t try enough? Well, hopefully you will be guilted to put in one more order to get back that “active” status . (As if it really means anything at all.) Maybe you’ll put in another order to “finish your star.”

You see, these types of documents are meant to squeeze every bit of life out of you that they can. Maybe you’ll put in one more order before you call it quits. Maybe you’ll twist the arm of one more recruit who will hopefully put in an order.

Yes, guilt is a powerful tool. One that is used daily in Mary Kay.

See What Five Hours a Week Can Do for You!

It is my observation that every consultant can find the time to hold an average of 2 classes per week. Yes, even the consultant who has 1 1/2 jobs and family responsibilities. Rarely do you meet a person who does not spend 6-10 hours per week in front of the television, playing Bunko, or some other activity which has nothing to do with her job or her family. What could it mean to her to invest that time into preparing for, traveling to, and holding 2 classes per week?

Find 2 times per week that you would be willing to hold classes. Then, highlight those times in your datebook for an entire year. Then, get on the phone for and Hour of Power to schedule 2 appointments in each of those times. Don’t be afraid to double book – it doesn’t mean you’ll be holding 2 classes (that almost never happens). It does mean that when one of them postpones, you’ll still have a class to hold. Double booking is all about smart use of your time – it’s about dealing with the disappointment of postponements. (In the event that both hold, just do both classes at your home or at one of the hostess’ homes offering her an extra gift for pulling up 4 more chairs.)

Decrease postponements and increase sales by doing all the steps of hostess coaching (check you Career Essentials and Hostess Coaching on this website for coaching tips).

Now, what can the 2 classes do? Let’s say your first classes meet the national average for new untrained, unskilled consultants of $150 – $200 in sales. Two classes per week at $175 would give you $350 in sales. Your 40% paycheck (once you get your inventory built to profit taking leave) is $140. That’s $140 profit for 2 classes. Couldn’t you find 4-6 hours a week for $140? Just think what will happen as your skills increase and you build just a small reorder business. It has been my observation that consultants who are consistently holding 2 classes per week will have their sales to $500 per week in just a few short weeks. These are averages, not guarantees.

$500 weeks = $2,000 months. Your 40% paycheck for a $2,000 month is $800 a month. 60% to replace what you sold in 41200 wholesale. 41200 wholesale every month is Emerald Star status every quarter. Being an Emerald Star each quarter puts you with in a few dollars of National Court of Sales.

What could an extra $800 a month mean to your family? Vacation, swimming pool, braces!

That’s not all. Let’s look at what 2 classes a week can do for recruiting. It has been my observation that there is at least one good recruit prospect at every class (a person who needs money, is already working 2 jobs, needs to get out of the house, is looking for a way to get back home). Company statistics teach us that ever new consultant can expect to recruit one out of every 5 prospects. So, if there is one prospect at every class and you make the effort to do some follow-up (give her a recruiting packet, book a class with her, invite her to weekly events, set up an interview with her), you should get a new recruit from every 4-5 classes. That’s 2 recruits per month. That’s a free car for anyone in 6 months. And, if each of them orders a minimum of $600 wholesale before the Seminar year ends, that mean you walk on stage at Seminar as a member of the Court of Recruiting.

You deserve the financial supplement 2 classes a week can mean, as well as the company prizes. Are you willing to discipline yourself to hold 2 classes per week?

IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME!

By NSD Kathy Goff-Brummett

Trivia question: How many “full time” sales directors with Mary Kay actually hold 2 classes per week every week? Almost none. It’s not nearly as easy as they make it sound to actually get people to hold those classes and have guests show up.

1. Avoid supporting the numbers and cite an authority instead: the company, the NSDs, “common knowledge.”
2. Ignore the question and try to overwhelm you with more fake facts.
3. Change tactics and jump on a hot button you revealed when she asked you personal questions.
4. Avoid revealing that the numbers are based on the MK/MLM alternate definition dictionary, such as “sales” = 2x whatever you ordered, or “hourly income” = only counts the class time and not the 20+ unpaid hours trying to find a hostess and prepare.

What they’re neglecting is telling these new victims that most parties don’t have many sales if ANY. When I was doing virtual shows with Pampered Chef (and following my director’s formula!) it wasn’t uncommon to have a party that didn’t “qualify” or had no sales at all. When you’ve spent an hour or so on the party, plus host-coaching, and communicating with guests before/after the party…yeah. More than a few hours–no money!

That five hours barely gets you through the Monday night suck-sess meeting, the obligatory conference call with your upline, and the barrage of e-mails, tests and phone calls from your SD trying to get you to spend all your time on mary kay.

Boy, these marketing materials are SLICK. I tried a MK “business” (twice!) I know how unrealistic those earning claims are, how hard it is to actually book classes, but I still read this marketing ploy and start to think “maybe I can do this. an extra $800/month would be nice…” they know exactly what to say. I’m glad pink truth is here to remind me that it’s all false.
but really, they say the average class is $150-$200. that’s $37-$50/person in a 4 person class (if you can even get a 4 person class). I don’t think that’s realistic for over-priced make-up. I think $10-$25 is more likely, people will buy a mascara or eyeliner to help the hostess and feel like “at least I bought something.” Plus whatever discounts/ freebies you promised the hostess.

Real business owners don’t have to be shamed into working their businesses. Why? Because they know it’s THEIR business. MK and the like are not real businesses for anyone except the actual descendants of MK Ash who own the company. Every single person from the IBC to the NSD are only resalers and recruiters of a product. Deep down we each know it’s not “owning our own business.” Because if it were actually true, we’d treat it as such. But MK is built on swindling people into ordering products they don’t know about and selling which they might have no skills in, not entrepreneurialism. Someone who starts a real business has passion and an invested interest because THEY own it.

A successful company has people that don’t have to be guilted into working because THEY’RE ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY. I got so sick of being told how I wasn’t working hard and how it was up to me if it was going to be when MK kept developing ridiculous products, never gave us commission raises (and still hasn’t almost 2 decades later), and robbed us of insane amounts of money (fee for everything, car payments more than a lease would be on our own, etc).

You should not guilt someone into working like a machine. If someone works 1 1/2 jobs and still happens to have down time enough to watch some tv or play bunko- let them! For pity’s sake, the body needs rest! As someone who used to be a legit workaholic and ended up in the hospital (and is still struggling to find an even pace of rest and work), I just have to say that people like this sicken me. You’re body and mind need time to recharge. Telling people they’re not good enough because they’re not working every. single. second. their eyelids are open is disgusting.

Looking at some of my Offspring Directors’ sites shows them available to customers 68 hours/week. Another says “anytime”.

It reminds me of the conversation I overheard a few months ago of a Director talking about her stress with a friend or member of her family. She had gotten badly out of shape and looked worn out. She checked her phone every few minutes and talked about how she was tired but couldn’t afford to stop trying to build her business. She talked of missing being home with her kids after school and how her weekends were tied down to MK. The person she was with told her she didn’t get into business to be this exhausted, but then the Director argued back with how it’s “a dream life”.

Really? My Offspring are making themselves available for 68 hours a week and more! I left behind a career that provided benefits like health, dental, and vision insurance, 401K being matched by my employer, and PTO. And I never worked more than 40 hours a week. When I left work, I LEFT work.